Meadow-Foam Family [Limnanthaceae] |
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19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
A pretty garden plant, barely 6 inches high. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Unusual in that they are bi-coloured white with a very large yellow centre. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
The flowers are quite large for their height. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
With five petals and five triangular sepals half the length of the petals. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaves are reminiscent of those of Pineapple Weed. The thicker stems bear several un-opened pentangular pyramidal flower buds. Already opened flowers seem to be singular, on thinner stalks. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
The petals have a curvy nick. The large yellow patch in the middle is astoundingly circular. Un-like the similar Buttercup, the yellow is not shiny. Leaves pinnate, with narrow and pointed lobes. Note in the centre 4 as-yet un-opened flower-buds surrounded by a frilly lace curtain of young finely-divided leaves. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Like Grass-of-Parnassus the white petals have numerous greenish translucent veins, two of which are branched half-way along the petal. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
The petals number five. The gap between them varies from wide, as here, to very close almost over-lapping. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
There are ten yellow stamens bearing deep-yellow anthers. The green and pointed sepals reach half the radius of the flower and are between the petals. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
The ten yellow stamens with golden-yellow anthers. In the centre is also has a 5-celled ovary with one ovule per cell (and which transforms into a 5-celled schizocarp with one seed per cell), a single style and five stigmas. |
9th June 2009, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
The 5-celled ovary has consists of 5 spherical blobs arranged pentagonally. Petals withered. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Newly opened flowers are tea-cup shaped. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Lower leaves are also pinnate, but with wider lobes. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Upper leaves have narrower but still pointed leaflets. Yet-to-open flower-buds on right. |
19th May 2011, Blackleach Country Pk, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
This may be a young leaf not yet fully grown? |
Uniquely identifiable characteristics Distinguishing Feature : The fried-egg look of the flowers.
No relation to : Meadowsweet (which, from afar, looks foamy) nor to Some similarities to : Yellow Monkswort (Nonea lutea) which also has petals which are yellow near the middle turning to white near the periphery but they are smaller. Not in many wild-flower picture books, you are much more likely to find this in a garden than growing wild, but it will grow wild as a casual; rarely persisting. The above specimens were planted as educational. There are about nine other flowers from the Limnanthes Genus; but they do not grow wild in the UK.
An edible oil can be extracted from
Two plant
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Limnanthes | douglasii | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Limnanthaceae |
Limnanthes (Meadow-Foam) |
Meadow-Foam Family [Limnanthaceae] |